America the Beautiful

Our next location has been just south of Rapid City South Dakota. The first night here we went into town for dinner and got to experience a taste of a real western town. Rapid City was bustling with activity as they were having a street fair. To our delight we got to enjoy Art Alley right next to the fair. It had the most amazing spray painted pictures on buildings that I have seen. From paintings of Martin Luther King to Looney toons. It was a real treasure. There was even a band playing for tips. We never knew what one could do with a can of spray paint.
We ate dinner at the famous Firehouse restaurant. Apparently it was too hot for John as it made him sick to his stomach. I guess he is getting to old for gourmet dishes like beer/cheese soup.
Yesterday we went to Custer State Park and toured the wildlife loop. We saw herds of buffalo, goats, prairie dogs, burros and deer all within their own habitat. We didn't see mountain lions or mountain goats but they did exist inside the park. After the wildlife loop we hit needles highway. This was amazing countryside. Some of the coolest rock structures we've anywhere. The black hills were more like huge mountains. Again the kids were loving it and we enjoyed sharing it with them.
We then drove to Mount Rushmore. The patriotic feeling that I got there is hard to explain but once you know the story behind the man who created this icon you understand. Amazingly not one person died while carving out this huge granite structure. We listened to a talk about the making of Rushmore and headed out.
We drove to Crazy Horse Memorial, also a larger structure carved out of the side of a mountain. We did not pay to get up close but we saw it none the less. It was a long day and a lot of driving but we got to see many wonderful American treasures.
Today John and Gabe are going riding, how ironic there is a track only a mile up the road. John couldn't have planned that if he tried. Jadon and Bowie and I will be going into town to visit some other kid friendly sites.

Badlands

My apologies to those of you who were just dying to see pictures of the corn palace somehow they got deleted from our camera along with pictures of the kids and John on the waterslide. I must admit we've had some camera dilemmas while on the road between losing my camera and not having pictures from Lake Michigan and now the Corn Palace. I am trying to just get over it but we will never be able to get those pictures back we hold only the memories and when your a little kid the importance of pictures is invaluable.

Onward and upward.

We drove about three hours yesterday to get near the Badlands in South Dakota. We are currently stationed just two miles from the national park entrance. John was awestruck as to the vastness of the open land on our travels here. Literally you drive for miles and miles and never see a building a road or house, just prairie land. Who owns all that land anyway???

Our tour of the badlands was amazing. Even though John and I have seen it before this time we got to share it with our children. It was a wonderful and surreal experience. All of the kids were blown away by the beauty of the landscape. It's one of those things you just have to see to believe but makes one appreciate how awesome God is.

We also got to see a real paleontology digging site. I found that to be truly fascinating albeit a painstaking process. We drove for about an hour on the interior loop after a long hike down into the badlands. We underestimated the length of the hike into the dessert like conditions and were pretty wore out upon its completion.

Upon exiting the badlands we found ourselves in Wall, SD. You can't go through wall without visiting Wall Drug. It is Americana at its finest. The testimony of the people who started the Drug store back during the depression era made me cry in the middle of my lunch. Again another hooray for God and his faithfulness. There are a million things to see inside of this place and again you gotta experience it to believe it.

Tomorrow we will be headed closer to Rapid City where Mount Rushmore and other sites are located. We will post more then.

South Dakota

We hit South Dakota yesterday afternoon and passed through Sioux Falls. We are staying in Mitchell the home of the famous world's only corn palace. We plan to tour that today along with the homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder. That takes me back to years of watching Little House on the Prairie.
We stayed in Jackson MS for an overnight prior to SD. This was the first time rain stuck with us during camp set up. We usually have rain when we drive. It has been rare that it hasn't rained a least a little while driving. But it was a soggy set up this time. Fortunately the rain passed and the kids were able to get out and blow off steam. They went for a hay ride and later swam in the heated pool.
We pulled out the next morning after a round of mini golf. This current campground has an indoor waterslide so my plea to go to the corn palace has fallen on deaf ears. I kindly explained that we did not travel to SD to hit a waterslide. Still no takers. I'll post some photos later and let you know which venture won out.

Red Wing

From nowhere WI we traveled near Green Bay and hit the New Zoo. A smaller zoo but just enough for us to get through before a huge thunderstorm hit. The penguins and lion won out for best animal to our family. We drove for several hours to get to Wassau, WI. Not for anything specific but to just spend the night. We were beside the Wisconsin river. It was the worst campground so far with terrible roads to navigate an RV. From there we traveled for 5 hours into Minnesota where we are currently in the city of Red Wing. This is the famous shoe maker ironically that John patronized for all his years in construction. We crossed the Mississippi to get here. This far north the river is not very wide.

This is the cheapest we saw gas at $3.84 a gallon. The most expensive we have seen was in Michigan at Mackinaw City where it was a whopping $4.50. This has been interesting to see change from town to town and we will keep you posted on our finding.

John and I discussed how we always have a picture of what a campground will look like in our mind before we get to it. The name surely affects this image. Now we are at one named Treasure Island. I don't know what this conjures up for you all but it is a big parking lot. That's it. It does have hook ups but not much else. It sits next to a huge casino so I'm guessing these campers aren't here to enjoy the great outdoors. We were able to use the pool in the casino though so that is one bonus.

John found a MX track that him and Gabe will hit today. We will see what else we can get into here in the parking lot.

Sorry about the above photo I can't figure out how to turn it. It's the kids at the pool and the zoo.

Somewhere in Wisconsin

We spent our last night in Michigan on the UP in a very little campground near a railroad. Any ideas how we woke up the next morning. The kids met a boy who they played with for hours. That was a blessing. The next day we drove separate again into Wisconsin. I really thought that we were lost in America on our way here. But to our surprise we ended up at a great campground with a playground across the road a lake with huge floating toys that the kids love. They have been able to fish and ride bikes all day.
God is so cool in that the family staying next to us is from Arizona. They homeschool and homebirth as well. They too have a dream to travel across the country so we were able to share our story with them and how God has been faithful with our dream. They have two boys and a little girl like we do. Right now they are all at the park waxing the slide with wax coated cups making it possible the fastest slide in the world.
We got a new tow dolly that looks like it could tow a bus so it should work for us the rest of this trip. Leaving this morning for somewhere else in WI.

Beauty Abound

We took the Mackinaw City ferry over to Mackinaw Island for my 38th birthday. Thank you to everyone who called to wish me a happy birthday. It means a lot to hear from those that I love. The ferry ride was only 20 minutes and very pleasant. As we approached the island there was a feel of the Victorian era. The buildings were lovely and the homes stunning. We ate lunch at Millies on Main St and then rented bikes. The island has had a ban on automobiles since 1898 so the only way to get around is either bikes or horse and buggy. We took the 8 mile ride (yes I said 8 miles) around the entire island on our bikes. John and Bowen rode a tandem as did Jadon and I. Gabe rode own his own. We climbed to the top of a mountain to see Arch Rock, a natural wonder for everyone to enjoy. We also stopped periodically to rest and to take in the island beauty. Lake Huron is crystal clear and you can see for many feet down to the bottom. I was in awe of it really.
Upon completing our bike ride we ate fudge (can't be too healthy) and ice cream and headed back on the ferry. There is a lot of history on the island with forts to explore and mansions to tour. We opted out of that but someday it would be nice to do that. Perhaps when John and I are older. It was a picture perfect day. Cool (68) and breezy and really fun. This is just what I pictured when I dreamed of our family on this trip.
Congratulations to the Laughmans for making it Florida. We are proud of you for stepping out and making it happen. We pray for you and the Hannas, that you all maintain your sanity. LOL.
Now we are settled in for the night at Rapid River Michigan. We drove for three hours across the Upper Peninsula to get here. The drive was beautiful. The coast of Lake Michigan rivals any coast I have seen. The only drawback is the temperature, only in the 60's. I have been pleasantly surprised by the loveliness of Michigan. I feel blessed to be able explore it in this way.

Motocross Heaven

From Niles Michigan we had a long days drive to West Branch near Rose City. We crossed the whole state to end up on the east side driving north past Lake Huron. We have now seen three of the Great Lakes. The reason for the long(over five hours) drive was to get to Ogemaw Sport and Trail Center. Don't let the name fool you, it was a nice MX track with three total tracks and lots of trails but the camping facilities were primitive. We did have water and electric but man this place was way out in the boonies. The road leading there was over two miles of dirt.
John described the place as Eden however as combining MX with camping is just up his alley. Gabe and John rode for two days. John said on the evening of day two that his body was worn out apparently not as young as he used to be. Gabe however rode until almost nine that night. Gabe discovered he likes to trail ride even though he was very intimidated by it before trying it.
The other two kids and I went into town on Thursday to run errands and see a movie, here's a heads up don't go see the movie Wall E. I just didn't get this one. Probable the worst kids movie I have ever seen.
We left Ogemaw with intentions of heading north to Mackinaw City for the weekend. We had some tow dolly issues again. Of course we should have dealt with this already but we do tend to procrastinate. After the long drive out of the dirt road from the sport center John checked the tow dolly and it was so twisted and trashed that he knew we couldn't go any further. We had only gone 11 miles. We called around to different places hoping to either rent a dolly or buy one. Fat chance in the middle of no where. So we drove separate, me in the truck and everyone else in the RV. We later decided to bless someone else with the tow dolly. We knew that somehow we would get it worked out but it was dangerous to be towing that thing behind the RV.
We got to Mackinaw City and headed for the Upper Peninsula where I "thought" our campground was. The bridge to cross over to the UP is spectacular. The water is as blue as any tropical water you will see. I just couldn't believe it when I saw it. The bridge itself it a modern day marvel as it is over five miles long. And the cool thing is that Lake Michigan is on one side and Lake Huron on the other. Because we loved this bridge so much we crossed it twice and payed the toll as well due to me directing us to the wrong campground. Duh. Must be the fact that I am getting older.
Last evening after setting up camp finally we went to look at the Lake and check out the town of Mackinaw City. We ate a the Dixie Saloon, a very rustic and woodsy restaurant that overlooked the water. We then cruised through and open air mall and called it a night. BTW it is very cool here highs in the 60's.